Photoelectric stop mechanism for looms



Feb- 23, 1954 R. B. HUTcHlNsoN 2,670,014

PHOTOELECTRIC STOP MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Filed Sept. l5, 1950 2Sheets-Sheet 2 fff BY AWN/E Y Patented Feb. 23, 1954 @omreo .Joel-ICEemoroccooritllglmmlsmR "RoBertjBjLiutcISon, YonkrsgN: Y.,f3a'"ssignorito"AlexanderSmitlr;{ncorporated, Yonkers, N. Y.,

'zt-corporation foif New York l injury to the loom or tojthe shuttleshould the shuttle deviate from' itsY normal vrate :or: path :of

' travel.

Another object is "toip'rovide, in thei'casejiof Axminster ilooms;mechanism 'for stopping "the loom in response `to anjov'erthrow fof theneedle. Other objects Vand advantag'ehswill"beapparent vas the'natureuof 'the inventionr4 is :more fully: dis'- closed. 1 1 l The invention"will be r'better` unde'rsltcnddfby" referringto the followingdescriptionftaken'in tconnection withv thei "accompanyingMdrawings; in

' which l Ispecic embodimentsjthereof have --been set'forth for'purposes fofi'illus'tra-tion.

`Inthe drawings: l Y l y l y Fig. l is al transverse sectionoflailoorntaleni-on Fig. 3 is a's'chematic diagram of theiphotelctriccontrol circuit; n n n Y* Fig. 4 is a Apartial "sidefelevationwoi.anvfAdiminsterneedle and associated-mechanisnd'embodying the presentinvention;- and Fig. 5 is a schematic diagramshowingitheiphor`toelectricic-ircuit involved inthefsystemiof Fig. 4.

"shown as applied `to*ai^1oomfof-y standard-.lconl*struction including a:reed"il Ulsupportedby aflay "I Iwhich extends l:across the lloom andcarriesit-he reed, and areed cap lzfwhichcarriesthesiupper end of thereed and' is supported .fromfthelay I I byfbrackets LI 3 'of"standard-fconstruction: .The

lay I I is mounted forswinging-mavementionarms I5 which arejournalledztoswing about afrroduIG.

"Tofone or morelof 'thenarms.lzisiattached a l'bracket I 1 which is=ffconnected:jby. i a `crank pin I 9 J carried on arcrankia'rm :2Ilfwhfich Visfattached to a drivinglshaftZI :andgisfgarranged -tovreciproca-terme arm :I 5 1in.response-. to Irotar-y link ifs/.to

a raised portion 23 engaging a roller M-Which 50 'follows 'the contour;of. :the camz ;discl '2 hand is vcarried 4by* an arm -25ypivotedfto a.bracketfZ 6 aand carrying amovable contact'zflwellgagrlg agstationary.contact f28f exceptflwhenithe Vroller l:24 -rides over theraised1portiong23fof-rthe cam.

"AsjshownQnore ginjdetailinrligZ the lay con- 'stitutes'a'channelmember/ havingja top' flange'3ll onwhichthe shuttle3l rides and which isadapted tto-,pass-'funderJa supporting bedg32 when the lay 5 isinaclvvamcedjposition.A kThe warpy 33 extendsoverfthefsupporting[bed332*anduforms a shedV 34 ithroughfwhilchthefshuttle 3 Il passes.

v 'jlnthe embodirnent-shown av light bulb Mi is ,mou'nt'ed on theiree'dcap-I 2 -directly'over thepath 10 Aof"thevf'Ls-h'uttle' 3I and-midway'of its throw. g vA y/photoelectric-`cellf4I --is-f-'r`nountedyin theupper I"flange v3l)` of theflay-directly beneath the light AMlsoasnorni-'ally'to r'eceiveithe rays ofthe light 40. *The celllIIi` is#m'ountedfush-Hwith the upper surta-ceo? the'f-flangelliso that -it doesf not interffer'efwith thelnormfallithrowof -the shuttle. vA fbrush-lfismountedfonigthe lower surface of the supporting bed-j `132 `in apositionto sweep over'the Acell 4I asatheilay is-returnedto its advancedpositionfsoastofremove anyrlintor` dirt from the top surfacezofA thelay-whichwould'l interfere with the passagelof light-from the'bulb 40 tothe cell 4 I.

vInithe circuit 'show'nfinfFig: `3 the photoelec- ,.-tric'celliMisfconnectedtothe'grid 45 of an amplirierrtubefiandvthroughahattery 41tothe cathrode 48; of: thextube A6. The, tube isl rprovided withgan-.anode y:llilfwhichisrconnected through acoil 5l] of a relay 5Iandcbatteryqzto the cathode '48.

A motorz5:'whichconstitutesathe driving motor of theloom-isfconnectedtoa-three ,phase line 56 ith-roughiaircuit ibreaker 4ii1 which is controlled gloyvay solenoid58. f1 A D.. C. lineig isconnected throughfcontacts toffbeclosedbv Varmsitl 0f thecircuitybreaker yil to two sides ofthe three phase I. 1.. ne 1,56avian-fthe.l motor., side yof the -circuit breaker. 3"."f1lhecircuitlorealzerY is. so *designed f that when the solenoid .58-;isdeenergiz ed the-contacts of the three phase line ligaregopenandthelcontacts of the D. C. l ine 59;areclosed, vand whenthesole-.-noidfljsrenergizedfjthe,contacts of the D. C. line 40.1.2551 areopened'and the contactsof thev three phase yllineffnif.are;closed,-

- Onegsideyof;thesolenoid 5# is vconnected,through la battery'j2 andaline-@Sato acontact 64 to be V 'engaged/by an armaturej'l offthejrelay5l. when loatheflattergis-deenergized .Thearmature 551s connected@lmet-:66. to the other side of the esolenoid;` 8H. .hetm-tactuatedcontact .21' is connectedptogthe liileli')VA andthestationary con fftact. 28:` is connectedtotheline 66.

is. energized when the the shuttle 3| over the photocell 9|. Hence thecontact 85 is normally held open, but is closed during the brief periodswhile the shuttle is over the photoelectric cell 4|.

The cam 22 which is driven by the main drive shaft 2| makes a completerevolution for each shuttle throw. Hence the cam may be synchronizedwith the normal movement of the shuttle over the lay and is so disposedon the shaft 2| that the raised portion 23 of the cam actuates the arm25 so as to open the normally closed contact 21 at the instant that theshuttle in its normal movement would be over the photoelectric cell 4|.

In the normal operation of the loom the solenoid 58 is maintainedenergized by the normally closed contact 21 except during the periodswhen the shuttle should be passing over the cell 4| if it is operatingnormally. The contact 84 is normally open due to the action of the lightrays on the cell 4|, but is allowed to close during the periods ofactual shuttle passage over the cell 4|. Hence if the shuttle passesover the cell 4i at the predetermined times the solenoid 58 will bemaintaind energized, and the loom will continue in operation. However,if during the period that the contacts 21 and 28 are opened by the cam22, the shuttle is not in a position to intercept the light rays to thecell 9|, both contacts 59 and f 21 will be open at the same time and thesolenoid 58 will be de-energized, allowing the circuit breaker 51 toshift its position to open the three phase line 50 and close the D. C.line "59. The opening of the three phase line 58 removes the energizingforce of the motor 55 and the closing of the D. C. line 59 places a D.C. voltage across one phase of the line 58 and serves to stop the motor55 immediately without allowing the motor to drift to a stop due to theinertia of the parts. The result is to stop the loom instantly so thatthe stroke of the lay is not completed. It is then possible to remedythe defect which has produced the displacement in time of the shuttlebefore the weaving proceeds, thereby preventing damage to the shuttle orto the parts of the loom which might otherwise occur if the lay wereallowed to complete its stroke. f While the photocell 11| has been showna placed at the center of the shuttle path for purposes of illustration,it is to be understood that a plurality of such light cells may be usedlocated at different points on the lay, each of which are connected incircuits similar to that of Fig. `3 and timed with the normal shuttlemovement so that a displacement of the shuttle at any point of itstravel from its normal rate of movement would stop the loom instantly.The same system may be applied to an Axrninster loom as indicated inFigs. i and 5, in which the Axminster needle 10 is reciprocated in theusual manner over a track 1|. In the embodiment shown a' shield 12extends upwardly from the needle carriage 13 which rides on the track 1land a pair of light cells 15 and 18 are disposed in the path of theshield 12. In the embodiment shown the light cell 15 is assumed to belocated at the center of travel of the needle and the light cell 15 islocated just beyond the normal path of travel of the needle so that thelight cell 19 is out 01T by the shield 12 only in the event of anoverthrow of the needle. The needle is driven as in standard Axminsterloom practice, the details of which are not included herein. In thecircuit diagram of Fig. a driving motor 89 constitutes the driving motorfor the needle carriage 4 13. This driving motor is supplied with threephase current from an A. C. line 8l controlled by a circuit breaker 82and is adapted to be supplied With direct current from a line 03 whichis also controlled by the circuit breaker 82, the control being similarto that shown in Fig. 3. The circuit breaker 82 is actuated by asolenoid 85 one side of which is connected through an armature 80,contact 81, line 88 to armature 89 of a relay 90 and to the cam actuatedarm 9|. The other side of the solenoid 05 is connected by a lead 92through battery 93, and lead 9d to stationary contact 95 engagingcontact 90 on the cam actuated arm 9 I, and by a lead 96 to the contact91 of the relay 90. The arm 9| is actuated by a cam 99 similar to thecam 22 above mentioned and driven from the main drive shaft |00 which isactuated by the motor 80. The relay 90 is provided with a coil |02 whichis connected in series with a battery |03 between the cathode |04 andanode |05 of tube |06. The grid |01 of the tube |00 is connected throughphotoelectric cell 15a and battery |08 to the cathode |04.

The relay armature 86 is actuated by a relay coil ||0 which is connectedthrough a battery between the cathode |12 and anode H3 of amplifier tubehaving a grid H5 connected through a photoelectric cell 18a and abattery H8 to the cathode H2. The photoelectric cells 15a and 10a aredisposed to receive light from the sources 15 and 16 respectively exceptwhen the light is intercepted by the shield 12.

In the operation of this system the motor continues to operate while thesolenoid is energized. The solenoid 85 is maintained energized by thenormally closed cam actuated contact 98 except when the cam 99 is in theposition corresponding to the center position of the needle 10. When theneedle is in this position however the light cell 15al is deenergized bythe shield 12 passing through the light beam from the source 15 anddeenergizes the winding |02 thereby releasing the relay and closing thecontact 91. Hence the loom continues to operate as long as the needle isproperly timed to cut off the light to the cell 15a at the instant thatthe contact 98' is opened by the cam 99. However, in the event that theneedle is improperly timed, the contacts 91 and 98 are both open at thesame time and the solenoid 85 is deenergized and immediately stops themotor 80 as in the previous embodiment. l

In addition to the above, the contact 81 is normally held closed byenergization of the photoelectric cell 16a. If however the needle shouldover-throw beyond its normal stroke, the light from the cell 16 would beout o by the shield 12, thereby deenergizing the photoelectric cell180., deenergizing the relay coil H0 and opening the contact 81, therebydeenergizing the solenoid 35 and immediately stopping the loom in themanner above described.

It is to be understoodthat in this embodiment also a singlephotoelectric cell 15a has been shown at the center of the needle path.I-Iowever a plurality of such cells may be disposed along the path andprovided with properly timed cams to stop the loom immediately in theevent of any deviation of the needle from its proper timing.

Although speciiic embodiments have been shown for purposes ofillustration it is to be understood that various changes and adaptationsmay be made therein as wil1 be readily apparent to a person skilledinthevart.-

gs ai otorf a I'point photoelectriciell'-to"-abtiiate said third switchmeans when the light on said cell is intercepted by""s"'a`d "carrier,"'and""a circii'it""bonnectingmsaid second and'Ithirdifswitchfmeans,..actuate said trip-means to stop said-motor wheneversaid second andVthird switchl'meanssare not operated Vin properA timed relationship.

`2. In a-.loom having a, driving motortand a yarn carrier actuatedtherebydna normal timedI vfsequencefan energizing circuit Aforsaidfdriving motor, switch means normally connecting said energizingcircuit to drive said motor, trip means to cause said switch means todisconnect said energizing circuit from said motor, a second switchmeans having normally closed contacts, means driven by said motor andsynchronized with the normal carrier travel to open said contactsmomentarily at a predetermined time in said travel, a third switch meanshaving normally open contacts, a photoelectric cell disposed at a pointin the path of said carrier corresponding to said predetermined time, acircuit connecting said photoelectric cell to close said last contactsmomentarily lwhen the light on said cell is intercepted by said carrier,and a circuit connecting said second and third switch means to actuatesaid trip means to stop said motor whenever said contacts are opensimultaneously.

3. In a loom having a driving motor and a yarn carrier actuated therebyin a normal timed sequence, an energizing circuit and a brake circuitfor said driving motor, switch means normally connecting said energizingcircuit to drive said motor, trip means to cause said switch means todisconnect said energizing circuit and connect said brake circuit tosaid motor, a second switch means, means driven by said motor andsynchronized with the normal carrier travel to actuate said secondswitch means at a predetermined time in said travel, a third switchmeans, a photoelectric cell disposed at a point in the path of saidcarrier corresponding to said predetermined time, a circuit connectingsaid vphotoelectric cell to actuate said third switch means when thelight on said cell is intercepted by said carrier, and a circuitconnecting said second and third switch means to actuate said trip meansto stop said motor whenever said second and third switch means are notoperated in proper timed relationship.

4. In a loom having a driving motor and a reed and yarn carrier actuatedthereby in a normal timed sequence, a driving circuit and a brakecircuit for said driving motor, switch means normally connecting saiddriving circuit to drive said motor, trip means to cause said switchmeans to disconnect said driving circuit and to connect said brakelcircuit to said motor, a switch, cam means driven by said motor andsynchronized with the normal carrier travel to actuate I'connestin'gsaidiphotoelecticicell a"shuttle"disposedtopass-faltiiigSam ayAksungmet-oractuating*said-ei r*said-'dri' "ing motor? switc t 'nectings'z'iid'l energizing circ 1' Etor;Htripiimeansetof cause is' ionship. y

. 'Ina-loont ilaydariyiiigrair ""df and --meansata'predeterminedtime'in'saidtra l, aphotoelectric"cell*disposed"at"a'gpin lay corresponding'to-fisidipredeteiminea'fitime.

photoelectric cell to actuate said third switch means when the light onsaid cell is intercepted by said shuttle, and a circuit' connecting saidsecond and third switch means to actuate said trip means to stop saidmotor whenever said last switch means is not actuated in proper timedrelationship.

6. In a loom having a lay carrying a reed and a shuttle disposed to passalong said lay, a driving motor actuating said reed and shuttle in anormal timed sequence, an energizing circuit and a brake circuit forsaid driving motor, switch means normally connecting said energizingcircuit to drive said motor, trip means to cause said switch means todisconnect said energizing circuit and to connect said brake circuit tosaid motor, a second switch means, means driven by said motor andsynchronized with the normal shuttle travel to actuate said secondswitch means at a predetermined time in said travel, a photoelectriccell disposed at a point along said lay corresponding to saidpredetermined time, a third switch means, a circuit connecting saidphotoelectric cell to actuate said third switch means when the light onsaid cell is intercepted by said shuttle, and a circuit connecting saidsecond and third switch means to actuate said trip means to stop saidmotor whenever said second and third switch means are not actuated inproper timed relationship.

'7. In a loom having a lay carrying a, reed and a shuttle disposed topass along said lay, a driving motor actuating said reed and shuttle ina normal timed sequence, an energizing circuit and a brake circuit forsaid driving motor, switch means normally connecting said energizingcircuit to drive said motor, trip means to cause said switch means todisconnect said energizing circuit and to connect said brake circuit tosaid motor, a second switch means having normally closed contacts, cammeans driven by said motor and synchronized with the normal shuttletravel to open said contacts momentarily at a predetermined time in saidtravel, a photoelectric cell disposed at a point along said laycorresponding to said predetermined time, a third switch means havingnormally open contacts, a circuit connecting said photoelectric cell toclose said last contacts. momentarily when the light on said cell isintercepted by said shuttle, and a, circuit con- I to disconnect saidenergizing circuit and to connect said brake circuit to said motor, asecond switch means, cam means driven by said motor and synchronizedwith the normal needle carrier travel to actuate said second switchmeans at a, predetermined time in said travel, a photoelectric celldisposed at a point in the path of said carrier corresponding to saidpredetermined time, a third switch means, a circuit, connecting saidphotoelectric cell to actuate said third switch means when the light onsaid cell is intercepted by said needle carrier, and a circuitconnecting said second and third switch means to actuate said trip meansto stop said motor whenever said second and third switch means are notactuated in proper ltimed relationship.

9. In an Axminster loom as claimed in claim 8 a second photoelectriccell disposed at a point beyond the normal needle path such that thelight thereon is intercepted when the needle is in overthrow positionand a circuit connecting said last photoelectric cell to actuate saidtrip means to stop said motor when the light on said secondphotoelectric cell is so intercepted.

10. In a loom having a lay and a bed under which the lay passes at theforward end of its stroke, a photoelectric cell disposed in the topsurface of said lay and a brush attached to said bed in a position tosweep over said cell as the lay passes thereunder.

ROBERT B. H'UTCHINSON.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,651,148 Nix et al. Nov. 29, 1927 2,026,147 Turner Dec. 31,1935 2,279,675 Gutman Apr. 14, 1942 2,442,178 Robb May 25, 19482,480,690 Ancet Aug. 30, 1949

